Vacuum ware stopper



Oct. 17, 1961 A. MOELLER VACUUM WARE STOPPER Filed March 27, 1959 INVENTOR AXEL MOELLER ATTORNEYS nitcd States Patent OQ@ 3,004,680 Patented Oct. 17, 1961 j 173,004,680 VACUUM WARE STOPPER Axel Moeller, St. Petersburg Beach, Fla., assigner to Moeller Mfg.v Co'., In'c., Racine, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Filed Mar. 27, 1959, Ser. No. 802,514 '1 Claim. (Cl. 21S-53) This invention appertains to stoppers and plugs and more particularly to a novel expansion stopper especially designed for use with vacuum ware, such as bottles and picnic jugs and the like, and is an improvement over my prior Patents Numbers 2,292,149;` 2,315,538; 2,347,835 and 2,729,353 issued respectively on August 4, 1942; April 6, 1943; May 2, 1944 and January 3, 1956.

One of the primary objects of my inventionis to provide novel means for forming the compressible stopper body and inner compression plate for insuring the bulging of the inner endl of the body into proper sealing and gripping contact with the inner surface of the neck of the vessel at the point of juncture of the neckwith the body of the vessel upon compression of thel body longitudinally so as to not only insure proper sealing of the vessel but also positively prevent accidental withdrawal. of the stopper from the vessel.

Another salient object of my invention is the provision of a hollow compression stopper body of a greater length than the height of the neck of the vessel `and having a novel formation at the juncture of its bottom and1 side walls brought about by the gradual increase in thickness of the botto-m wallc toward the side wail with' the merging of the walls on the inner' surface of the body by an arcuate connecting portion; the outer surface ofv the' stopper body gradually' tapering inwardjtoward the lower hat? face of the' bottom wall?, the compression plate having a raised annular compression rib engaging the bottom wall inward of the juncture of the bottom and side stopper walls, whereby upon compression of the ystoppecrbody between the inner and outer compression plates, the lower end of the body around' its periphery will be' forced andl guided outward into a desired bulge for gripping cvontoi-irv engagement the vessel at the point of juncture ofI the vessel neck andy body, the stepper 'body constructionA insuring suicient material for gripping engagement with the vessel in manner.-

A further' important .object of. myf invention-ifs the provision of means for formi-ng. the stopper body, whereby the same will tightly grip the vessel neck at the extreme inner-and' outer ends thereof upon compression-of the stopper body longitudinally and the expansion thereof radially, the outer end of the stopper body having an annular ange for engaging the outer surface of the lip of the vessel neck.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, `arrangement and formation of parts, as will be hereinafter more specifically described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which drawing:

FIGURE l is a central vertical sectional view through my improved stopper and the upper end of a vacuum picnic jug, the stopper being shown in its released nongripping sealing position;

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1, but showing the stopper in its compressed sealing and gripping position with the inner and outer ends of the stopper body tightly sealing the jug neck at its inner and outer ends;

FIGURE 3A is a side elevational view of the stopper removed from the jug, the stopper body being shown in its compressed position to illustrate the bulge at the lower end of the stopper body;

FIGURE 4 is a top plan View of the stopper with the cam lever in its raised released position, and

FIGURE 5 is a horizontal sectional view through the stopper taken on the line 5 5 of FIGURE 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring tothe drawing in detail, wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the letter S generally indicates my improved stopper for sealing various types of vacuum ware. ln the present instance, I have shown. the stopper S associated with a large mouthed vessel, such as a vacuum bottle or picnic jug I.

The jug J forms no part of the present invention and may be considered of a type now in general use. It is to be noted, however, that the same includes a body 10 and a neck 1.1. The neck and'body at their point of juncturel dene a gradual curve 12 which leads from the inner surface of the body to the inner surface of the neck 11.

The improved stopper S comprises a hollow resilient compressible body 13 having a cylindrical` side wall .14 andv a bottom wall 15. The upper end of the stopper body 13 is open. The outer surface of the body adjacent to its extreme outer end is provided with anv outwardly extending. annular flange 16 which is adapted to rest upon the lip of the neck 11 when the stopper S is inserted in the neck. The outer surface of the side wall 14 is provided with alseries of equidistantly spaced compressible sealing ribs 17.

ln` accordance with the present invention the outer sur.- face of the side wall 14 adjacent-tor its extreme inner end is gradually tapered inwardly, as at 18, toward the lower surface of the bottom wall 1S. The lower surface of the bottom wall 15 is ilat. However, the inner surface of the bottom wall is tapered upwardly and outwardly, as at 19,. .andhence the bottom wall gradually increases in thickness tow-ard its side wall 14. Itis to be also noted that the innerl surface of the bottom wall 15 merges with the inner surface of the side wall 1'4 in an arcuate-curve 2t).` Stress -is laid on the formation of the bottom wall, the tapered lower end 13` and the curve 20. By increasing the thickness of the bottom wall toward. its periphery in conjunction with the curve, I am` enabled to strengthen the stopper body at its point of maximumherringv and to provide sutlicient material to form a bulge when the stopper body iscompressed, as will later appear. By referring to` FIGURE 1,. it can be seen thaty the stopper body 113 is of a greater length than the height of. the neck` v1.1. Hence, when the stopper body is inserted in the neck to its fullest-extent, the lower end of the stopper body will protrude slightly belowy the neck andinto the' body 10.,

The hollow compressible body 13 is'` confined-between inner and outer compression plates or discs 21 and 22'. These compression discs are preferably, but not necessarily, formed from stainless steel.

The inner compression plate 21 forms an important part of the invention and the same is of a generally at circular shape. However, the axial center of the inner compression plate is of a concavo convex form, as indicated by the reference character 23 and this plate beyond the concavo convex portion is provided with an upstruck annula-r compression rib 24. This rib 24 leads down and outwardly to a fiat radially extending peripheral lip 25. It is to be noted that this lip terminates substantially in a plane vertical with the llower tapered end 18 of the stopper body, but inward of the main portion of the side wall of the stopper body.

The outer compression plate 22 is of a generally at circular shape and includes a centr-al inwardly depressed concavo convex portion 26. This plate inward of its outer edge is provided with an in-struck annular rib 27 which is adapted to engage the inner surface of the side wall 14 of the stopper body. The outer compression plate completely overlies the upper end of `the stopper body and extends substantially to the peripheral edge of the tlange 16. The axial center of the plate is provided with a bearing opening 28.

Rigidly secured to the axial center of the inner compression plate 21 is a threaded stem 29. This stem extends through an axial opening in the bottom wall 15 of the stopper body and extends inwardly of the` stopper body toward the outer compression plate 26. Rotatably mounted in the bearing opening 28 in the outer compression plate is a sleeve nut 30, which is threaded on the stem 29. Rockably mounted on the pivot pin 31 is the adjusting cam lever 32. When the lever 32 is in its raised position, as shown in FIGURE 1, the throws of the lever are in a raised position. By turning the lever and sleevel nut 30, the sleeve nut can be adjusted inward or outward on the threaded stem 29, so as to initially bring the inner and outer compression plates toward or away yfrom one -another as may be desired to initially adjust the` body to the approximate interior diameter of the neck 11.

With the stopper properly adjusted so as to permit easy movement of the stopper within the neck 11, the same is inserted in the neck until the flange 16 is in iirm engagement with the lip of the neck 11. At this time, if necessary, the lever 32 and the nut 30 can be threaded vdown on the stern 29 to bring the compression plates 21 and 22 toward one another, and thus bring about an initial compression of the body into engagement with the inner surface of the neck. The cam lever 33 can now be swung down to its lowered position, as shown in FIG- URE 2, with its throws into engagement with the upper compression plate 22. This will complete the movement of the inner `and outer compression plates toward one another and the longitudinal compression of the body 13 with the ,consequent radial expansion thereof. As the vcompression plates 2l and 22 move toward one another, the annular compression rib 24 on the inner compression plate 21 will lift up the bottom wall 15 of the stopper body 13 and force and guide the extreme 'lower end of the body at its periphery radially outward to form a bulge which will conform to the configuration of the vessel at the point of the juncture of the neck 11 and the body l10. Again, this is permitted owing to the formation of the inner compression plate 21. As the stopper body 13 is compressed longitudinally, the inner and outer ends thereof are brought toward one another and hence the annular ange 16 of the stopper body will be forced into sealing contact with the lip of the lneck 11, while the lower end of the body is forced into gripping sealing contact with the inner lower end of the neck. Thus, the vessel is effectively sealed at the upper and lowerends `of its neck portion. It is to be also understood that the outer surface of the main portion of the side wall 14 of the stopper body isA also forced outwardly into radial sealing contact with the neck.

From the foregoing description, it can be seen that I have provided an expansion stopper especially designed for Wide mouthed vessels and that an efficient means is provided for insuring the sealing of such a vessel at the opposite ends of its neck.

Changes in details may be madev without departing from the spirit or the scope of this invention but what I claim as new is: j

The combination Vwith a vacuum vessel including a `body and a neck, of a closure plug for the neck including a hollow compressible ybody `having an annular side wall and a bottom wall, the outer end of said side wall having an outwardly projecting annular ange engaging the lip of the neck, said stopper body of a greater length than the width of the neck whereby upon insertion of the stopper body into the vessel with the ange in engagement with the lip, the stopper body projects into the vessel body inward of the neck, said annular side wall having inner and outer surfaces substantially parallel for the greater length of said stopper body, inner and outer compression plates engaging the opposite ends of the stopper body, an adjustable means for bringing said plates toward one another to compress the stopper body longitudinally and to expand the stopper body radially, said outer compression plate having a depending annular rib engaging the inner surface of the side wall at the outer end thereof -to support the side wall with its annular flange on the lip` of the neck, said inner compression plate having an annular upstruck rib disposed inwardly of the side wall of the stopper body and engaging the bottom wall of the stopper body and a peripheral lip disposed in a planebelow the upstruck rib, said upstruck rib upon movement of the compression plates toward one another lifting said bottom rwall adjacent to the side wall and guiding the lower end ofthe stopper body outward onto the lip and into a bulge vand into gripping contour sealing engagement with the vessel at the` point of juncture of the neck and vessel body, the compression of the stopper body moving the opposite ends ofthe body into sealing contact with the neck.

References Cited in the ile of this patent p UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,120,369 Booraem et al Dec. 8, 1914 2,452,783 Nebesar Nov. 2, 1948 2,479,862 Payne Aug. 23, 1949 2,672,999 Protasoi Mar. 23, 1954 2,685,379 Moeller Aug. 3, 1954 2,760,667 Moeller Aug. 28, 1956 2,773,554 Y Lindorf Dec. 1l, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 760,775 France Dec. 27, 1933 

